Washington D.C., 24 April 2025 —Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Finance Ministers of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), representing 74 vulnerable countries, convened today for the 14th Ministerial Dialogue, held on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Themed “Enabling Climate Prosperity: A Global Agenda for Jobs, Security, Resilience,” the meeting focused on securing systemic reforms to the international financial architecture to help climate vulnerable nations build resilient, and inclusive economies.

The 14th Ministerial Dialogue marked the welcoming of four new members: Cabo Verde, Gabon, Solomon Islands, and Somalia. With the addition of the four new members, the V20’s membership rose from 70 to 74 countries. 

The Ministerial Dialogue takes place at a critical moment, as fiscal space continues to shrink across V20 economies. CVF countries face capital costs at least three times higher than those in G7 nations, with youth unemployment rates up to 20%, and over 330 million people at risk of food insecurity. At the same time, rising debt and declining levels of Official Development Assistance (ODA) are forcing member countries to scale back spending on essential public services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

During his opening remarks as chair of the meeting, His Excellency Ryan Straughn, Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of Barbados, noted that: “As disasters strike harder and faster, V20 countries require $490 billion a year by 2030—five times more than the $90 billion currently flowing—to fund climate action, development, and nature.”

Given these circumstances and the growing impacts of climate shocks – notably the 20% loss of GDP growth in climate vulnerable countries caused by climate change – the communiqué issued during today’s meeting called for an increased voice and representation of the V20 membership in IBRD, IFC and the IMF. Despite representing 22.4% of the world’s population, the V20 membership holds just a combined total of 5% of IMF quotas and 6.8% of its voting power.

Noting the changing geopolitical landscape alongside the growing demand for meaningful green development, Minister Straughn stated that: “We see changes in geopolitical positioning and with it, new leadership space is open.”

In attendance at the meeting, supporting the work and needs of the V20, were multilateral development banks, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Their presence emphasized the need for global cooperation at a time of shifting global dynamics. 

The V20 Finance Ministers stressed that the needs of the climate vulnerable must be explicitly considered, noting that vulnerability is not just about geography, but more about how able a country is to prepare for and respond to climate shocks, which is tied to a nation’s access to affordable capital.

Recognizing the urgent need to strengthen capacity, the meeting reinforced calls to honor previous financial commitments — including the IDA21 replenishment package — while also strengthening debt relief mechanisms, making MDB loans more affordable, and scaling up pre-arranged financing tenfold by 2030. These measures are essential to give V20 economies the fiscal breathing room needed to recover from climate impacts without sacrificing their development.

To ensure financing is more effective and aligned with national priorities, the V20 called for the establishment of country platforms that are essential to shift away from the current fragmented approach to funding. Additionally, they stressed the importance of transitioning rapidly from fragmented, short-term projects to dynamic, programmatic approaches that are country-owned and responsive to needs. This includes investing in skilled national teams to lead project preparation, early-stage capital, first loss and guarantees, and strengthening national institutions, including planning bodies, national development banks and regulators.

Furthermore, the V20 highlighted that green development can be an engine of growth to drive job creation. This, they stressed, is essential to move beyond reactive, disaster management and toward seizing opportunities for long-term, climate-resilient development.

With the increasing health risks driven by rising global temperatures as a core concern of the CVF-V20 agenda, today’s communiqué also emphasized the urgent need to strengthen climate-resilient healthcare systems. This includes establishing trauma centers closer to disaster-prone areas, improving disease surveillance, expanding mental health support, and ensuring access to essential health services such as coping with heat stress.

Speaking at the meeting, Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition, noted that the draft outcome of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) currently includes the 10 ‘Super Levers’ within the global financial system, identified in CVF reports, could unlock an additional $210 billion of affordable climate finance annually to V20 countries. Mr. Hart also noted the importance of finance ministry engagement in the FFD4.   

After the adoption of the communiqué, the meeting concluded with Minister Straughn stressing that: “With the world, especially developing nations, engulfed by an escalating storm of climate disasters, inaction is no longer an option. It is time for decisive, collective action that transforms challenges into opportunities, restructures our financial systems for real impact, and secures a resilient future for all.”